Globalhead [NOOK Book]

Overview

Featuring thirteen satirical short stories, a unique collection includes scientific superstars, a rock singer who is the voice of the people, and two lost souls who drive off the edge of the world and find each other.

From the Paperback edition.

This second collection of short fiction by Bruce Sterling, set in such disparate environments as ancient Assyria and ...

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This Book

Overview

Featuring thirteen satirical short stories, a unique collection includes scientific superstars, a rock singer who is the voice of the people, and two lost souls who drive off the edge of the world and find each other.

From the Paperback edition.

This second collection of short fiction by Bruce Sterling, set in such disparate environments as ancient Assyria and posthuman France, provides a stimulating and entertaining glimpse inside the "global head" of one of imaginative fiction's most exciting talents.

Editorial Reviews

Roland Green

The latest collection of Sterling's short fiction contains 13 stories, 2 of them collaborations with John Kessel and Rudy Rucker, respectively. In one or another of them, Sterling takes on the investigation of hackers, the Gulf War, American politics, the nuclear arms race, and a number of other topics. "Takes on" is a fair descriptive for his satirical bent, in fact, but he also displays a fine command of language and a mastery of action and high-tech hardware that many technothriller writers might justifiably envy. Sterling's talents have won him an audience that is likely to long outlast cyberpunk and that justifies this volume's presence in at least large sf collections.

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This collection of short stories by Bruce Sterling is pretty goo

This collection of short stories by Bruce Sterling is pretty good. Some of the stories are stronger than others. I particularly liked Storming the Cosmos, Jim and Irene, The Moral Bullet and Hollywood Kremlin. I wasn't real taken with Our Neural Chernobyl or Dori Bangs; not because of content but because of style. The Soviet Union/Russia and Islam make several appearances throughout the collection.

Our Neural Chernobyl - fictional book review about cross species medical/drug contamination future history. I didn't care for the style though the concept surrounding the events was interesting. 2 stars

Storming the Cosmos tells the story 2 scientist who discover an alien artifact at Tunguska, and how the politicians screw it all up. It was pretty entertaining, I liked it a lot. 5 stars

The Compassionate, The Digital us the transcript of a future speech/rally re: AI who transits Space-time. It is basically a transcript of Islamic propaganda. 3 stars

Jim and Irene is the story of two forlorn loners who escape to lonely lands and end up forging a connection. 5 stars

Sword of Damocles is a hilarious and disjointed tale of Damocles and Dyonysis. 4 stars

Gulf Wars tells the story of two hapless soldiers caught up in two different wars in the same area of the Persian Gulf separated by millenia. 4 Stars

The Shores of Bohemia reminded me of today's politically correct bloviaters. Amelie's little speech was certainly representative of the insufferably conceited attitude of today's politicians, though she and Rodolphe both ended up joining the ranks of those they despised. I don't think I understood the point of the story. Maybe that mob rule is inevitable among societies? That self-awareness and finding 'truth' require solitude? 3 Stars

The Moral Bullet is a story of post apocalyptic survival after the chaos of an anti-aging drug is released to the world. 5 Stars

The Unthinkable is about two old antagonists discussing the end of the cold war, in a world where the weapons are demonic rather than atomic. 4 Stars

We See Things Differently is about an Arab Muslim journalist sent to America to meet a popular Rock Musician/Political Fundraiser/Revolutionary. It's about the power of conviction...and maybe a little bit of religious-political propoganda brainwashing. 4 Stars

Hollywood Kremlin is a beautiful little story about black market smugglers in Azerbaijan during the last days of Soviet rule. 5 Stars

Are You For 86? features Leggy Starlitz again from Hollywood Kremlin. This time the smuggler from Azerbaijan is roadtripping with a couple of feminist political activists smuggling the abortion pill across country while evading a Christian activist group. Hate the politics but it's a well written story and carries the narrative well. 5 Stars

Dori Bangs is about the fictional life together of two real life people who died young. It reads like an obituary more than a story. 3 Stars

The mass market paperback was formatted well. There was one possible spelling error where they put DC where I think they meant CD.

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